


The Tragedy of Barb

by StillKickingIt



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Barb, Character Bashing, F/M, Justice For Barb, Mutant Powers, Supernatural Elements, The Upside Down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 09:23:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12650745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StillKickingIt/pseuds/StillKickingIt
Summary: Am I the only one still mad about Barb? Honestly?





	The Tragedy of Barb

Barbara Holland wasn’t well liked by anyone except for a few. She was dumpy in all the wrong places, had large unflattering glasses and never felt comfortable in her own body.

One of the only people who seemed to even slightly enjoy her company was Nancy Wheeler. Nancy and Barb had been friends since they were eight years old. Only back then Nancy had a lisp and braces. Now Nancy was beautiful, and Barb was the same as she always was. Too tall, too fat, too ugly.

It wasn’t all bad though, Barb had always tried to be positive. She had a good family, parents that loved her and a best friend. She had seen loser who didn’t have anyone and she thanked god ever day she didn’t have to sit in the bathroom, eating her lunch alone. She wasn’t picked on, per say. More she was seen as lower class to most. Girls ignored her if she saw them in the bathroom, Boys didn’t even see her. It was as if she didn’t really exist. Sometimes she wondered if she was really alive or a ghost.

She had joked with Nancy that if she stripped nude in the middle of homeroom she wouldn’t even get into trouble. Nancy had frowned at that and told Barb that she was beautiful and didn’t need to worry. She had told Barb that boys would be trying to date her soon enough.

But as usual she was wrong. As soon as they started their junior year boys began to swarm Nancy. At first it was some of the weirder boys. But as she got more confident and wore more revealing clothes she attracted more and more attention to herself. Barb was getting increasingly worried that she was going to be left behind once Nancy found a boyfriend.

Then Steve Harrington appeared. He was considered to be the hottest guy in school. He was popular amongst most groups but he hung out with Tommy H. and Carol mostly. Tommy H. and Carol hadn’t said as much as one word to her in the entire time they had gone to school with her. They had been in preschool together.

But Barb wasn’t going to be a bad friend.

She had always believed that if you were truly kind that people would come around eventually. Some would call her naive but she always though that her kindness was her best quality. That was how she had first become friends with Nancy. Nancy had been made fun of for her lisp and Barb had invited her over to her house and told her that she didn’t care about the lisp and thought that she was really cool.

As September turned to October, Steve had started to get more persistent. He followed her around after class and constantly told her how beautiful she was. Of course, Barb was usually standing right near the pair and she hadn’t even heard Steve say hello to her. Barb had just brushed it off. Saying to herself that Steve must be so enamored with Nancy that he didn’t even notice Barb.

October was hard because Nancy had been distant and her parents had been arguing about money. She tried not to think about that stuff and focused on her studies. She had always been a good student and because of that she was well liked by most of the faculty.

Or so she liked to think. Sometimes she worried that she just flew under the radar with most teachers. She got good grades but she didn’t like to talk in class. She had a crippling fear of talking in front of people. She would get scared about lots of stuff. Like if Nancy was only her friend because she had a car, and if she would die before being kissed. But she reminded herself that Nancy was her friend. And that she shouldn’t give up hope.

So on that early November night when her mother began banging on her door she protected her friend. Her mother knocked hard, “Barb, honey, is Nancy in there with you?”

She frowned and looked at the locked door. Nancy hadn’t talked to her that weekend so she had no idea what was going on. She decided to play it safe and simply say, “What?”

“Nancy’s mom was just wondering, since she said that Nancy had told her she was studying with you.” Came the muffled reply from her mother. Barb tried to think. It had to have been a good reason that Nancy had brought up her name without even informing her before hand. Barb had faith that all would be explained soon. She sighed and took a deep breath, “Yeah Nancy is here mom. But she won’t be for long.”

Her mom then seemed to relay the message back to Nancy’s mother. She sighed and guessed that she was in the clear.

She was an only child and her parents both worked so she was used to her mother never prying. She guessed it wasn’t too bad.  She liked her privacy and she liked to be alone.

At around ten she finally let herself call Nancy. She felt excitement as the phone rang as she tried to conjure up what had happened in her head. Her mind went to the idea of romance and she swooned. She liked to picture Steve talking to her sometimes. She imagined boys staring and having trouble talking to her.  As the phone rang she tried to tamper her excitement.

Mrs. Wheeler picked up the phone. “Hello, Wheeler residence.”

“Hi, Mrs. Wheeler,” Barb said, calming herself internally. Mrs. Wheeler responded kindly. “Hey, Barb did you want to talk to Nancy? She just got home.”

“Uhm, yes please Mrs. Wheeler.” Barb said. She heard Mrs. Wheeler calling up to Nancy and she found herself getting excited. Finally she heard Nancy’s voice on the line. “Hey Barb, what’s going on?”

“Well why don’t you tell me? I had to cover for you earlier. Did you have a good time with Steve?” Barb laughed internally at her friend’s obvious embarrassment. Nancy let out a small gasp. “Oh my gosh, Barb! Sorry I had to come up with an excuse and I used you! I didn’t think that my mom would actually call you!”

“Nancy, don’t worry about it.” Barb said only half meaning the words. “So? Tell me what happened… You were obviously with Steve. So how did it go?”

“Barb,” She said wistfully. “We kissed.”

Barb let out a small shriek at her friend’s confession. Neither of the girls had a first kiss yet and the fact that Nancy had it with the cutest boy in school was incredible. Barb felt butterflies in her stomach at the news. “Oh my, GOD! That’s amazing Nancy I have like seven million questions!”

Nancy laughed, “I’ll try to answer as many as I can.”

Barb had to settle herself before she started badgering her friend. She took a deep breath. “Ok, so did it go past second base?”

Nancy giggled, “No, I don't think.”

“Well, is he as cute as he looks from a distance. Because as you know I’ve never really seen him up close.” Barb said. Nancy laughed at this and said, “Yeah, he's cute.”

“Could you maybe get him to set me up with one of his friends?” Barb asked jokingly, but realised that Nancy had taken it seriously as she hesitated and then said, “Barb, no, I don't think so.”

‘I’m just kidding Nancy I know that nobody would ever date me.” Barb said. She bit her lip. She hated how she looked more than anything. She wanted to be thin and blonde. Not chunky and ginger. She didn’t even have nice clothes that could cover up some of her indignities. She heard Nancy sigh and she felt the lecture start about how beautiful she is.

“Barb, you're not-,” Nancy stopped abruptly and she heard chatter in the background before Nancy said, “Barb Hold on.”

She heard rustling and finally a slam before Nancy came back, “Sorry it was one of my brother’s stupid friends. Barb don’t think your ugly because you’re not. You just haven’t found the right guy.”

“I know.” Barb said with a sigh. Nancy sighed as well. “I have to go Barb, but I’ll tell you more tomorrow.”

As the phone line clicked Barb felt alone again.


End file.
